As the United States upholds its policy of fomenting unrest against socialist governments in Latin America — the latest example being Venezuela after the death of Hugo Chávez in March 2013 — Russian President Vladimir Putin has charted a course in the opposite direction.
Ostracized by the West following the pro-Russian referendum deciding the fate of Crimea, Putin has recently turned to Latin America, declaring his country’s interest in “a strong, economically stable and politically independent, united Latin America that is becoming an important part of the emerging polycentric world order.”
During a five-day tour in Latin America earlier this month, Putin’s first destination was Cuba. On July 11, prior to arriving in Havana, Putin approved the cancellation of 90 percent of Cuba’s debt that has accumulated since the Soviet era. The remaining 10 percent will be utilized by the Cuban government in projects pertaining to investment — notably, offshore oil exploration. (Cuban estimates of 20 billion barrels of oil have been countered by the U.S. Geological Survey, which puts the figure at around 4.6 billion barrels.)
The historical revolutionary triumph over Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959 resulted in persistent attempts by the U.S. to sabotage the Cuban Revolution, with the Bay of Pigs invasion setting a precedent for CIA-backed counter-revolutionary and terrorist plans against Cuba. Former Cuban Prime Minister, President and revolutionary Fidel Castro’s espousal of Marxist-Leninist ideology brought anti-imperialist confrontation directly to the Soviet Union as an active participant, culminating in the placing of missiles on the island for defiant and defensive purposes.
Relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union were sorely tested by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s secret deal with U.S. President John F. Kennedy that brought an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, economic and trade deals were cemented following the U.S.’s consolidation of the blockade at the end of 1963.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 — an event forecast by Castro — rendered Cuba practically isolated. Its anti-imperialist stance was maintained, though. While strengthening revolutionary rhetoric, Castro also emphasized the importance of strengthening the foundations of the revolution — namely, education and health care as primary areas of the island’s investment.
Besides Cuba, Putin also visited Argentina and Brazil on his most recent tour of Latin America. The Russian president’s visit to Brazil was of particular importance, as he participated in a summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries. At this summit, BRICS leaders announced the establishment of a new development bank that will reportedly “rival the World Bank.”
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, BRICS advocates for “a deep change in the rules of multilateral financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are dominated by the United States.”
Castro weighed in on Putin’s visit to Cuba and the BRICS summit, which was held from July 14 to 16, describing BRICS as a challenging alternative to the widespread, usurping, imperialist hegemony.
Recalling the Soviet Union’s aid to Cuba — particularly following the U.S.-imposed embargo on the island — the former Cuban leader emphasized the importance of BRICS in a global context, sharing the experiences of Latin America, and Cuba, in particular, in the struggle against neoliberal and imperialist violence. Besides the instigations of violence against left-wing governments in Latin America — an example would be the brief U.S.-backed coup against Chávez’s government in 2002, as well as the more recent right-wing attacks against current Venezuelan President Nicolas Máduro — he U.S. has fuelled further violence against countries resisting imperial domination. The result has predictably been destabilization and the creation of failed states in the place of previously thriving countries. Given Latin America’s experiences with imperialist violence, the region has been most vocal in condemning U.S. aggression and complicity in the form of NATO-backed invasions.
In addition to economic considerations, Castro pointed out that the BRICS countries are calling for “a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including its Security Council, in order to make it more representative, effective and efficient in responding to global challenges.” This forms part of the BRICS Declaration, adopted on July 15, which calls for cooperation and solidarity with people, particularly with regards to Latin America.
According to the Voice of Russia, Putin stated, “Today, cooperation with Latin American states is one of the key promising areas of Russia’s foreign policy.”
“We are grateful to South Americans for their support of our international initiatives, including outer space demilitarization, strengthening international information security and combating the glorification of Nazism,” the Russian president said.
Alongside promoting economic cooperation between Moscow and Latin America, Putin also referred to the mutual easing of visa requirements. “The visa-free zone covers practically all South American states and a number of Central American and Caribbean countries, and the number of the zone’s members will increase,” he said.
In contrast, the U.S.’s role in Latin America is characterized by brutal military dictatorships and neoliberal experiments. U.S. opposition to the Cuban Revolution was particularly pronounced due to Castro’s strong anti-imperialist and internationalist stance, as evidenced by Cuban support for Palestine, South Africa, Angola and Bolivia, thus preventing Cuban influence from infiltrating throughout Latin America became a priority for the U.S. In addition, the construction of counter-narratives to distort the historical process became the means utilized by the imperialist power to enforce its supremacy.
The murder of Che Guevara in Bolivia on Oct. 9, 1967 by Bolivian soldier Mario Terán, who was acting on orders from the CIA, was exploited to falsely portray a declining revolution, thus displacing Castro from the helm by depicting Che as the intellectual architect of the revolution — a premise common to various documentaries about the Cuban Revolution.
Of greater magnitude was the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile. In 1972, a year prior to the military coup, President Salvador Allende denounced U.S. covert intervention in Chile at the United Nations. In Victor Figueroa-Clark’s 2013 biography of Allende, excerpts of the speech are reproduced, with Allende stating, “We find ourselves facing forces that operate in the shadows … we are victims of almost imperceptible actions, generally disguised with phrases and declarations that express respect for the sovereignty and dignity of our country.”
This address is of paramount importance in the context of BRICS, a group calling for U.N reform. Predictably, in 1972, the U.N adhered to imperialist dictates, while the U.S. backed a dictatorship responsible for the torture, murder and disappearance of thousands of Chileans — the latter in accordance with its historical support for murderous regimes such as that of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, who also participated in U.S.-sponsored attempts to overthrow Castro.
Aside from regional significance, Putin’s recent trip to Cuba and South America should be viewed within the wider, international struggle against U.S. imperialism. As Castro stated in his address to the U.N. in 1960 denouncing colonialism and imperialism, “A country that exploits the people of Latin America, or any other parts of the world, is an ally of the exploiters of the rest of the world.”
If BRICS, a group in which Russia counts itself as a member, persists in its constructive denouncing of the U.N. and its imperialist role, the Latin American example of international solidarity will be vindicated.